This is pettier than the usual dunk tank post, but this sub is like a microcosm of propaganda. These people are convinced there's multiple species of aliens on earth already because some moths have flown across security cameras at night and Vegas lights reflect in the clouds sometimes.

I guess I can bring it back to how America is bad, since this is exactly what the CIA wants.

  • Awoo [she/her]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    These people are convinced there’s multiple species of aliens on earth already because some moths have flown across security cameras at night and Vegas lights reflect in the clouds sometimes.

    This particular brainworm can be weaponised at any time. You can turn it into "there are spies everywhere". You can turn it into "watch out for the reds under the bed". You can turn it into "everyone is secretly trans". Etc etc.

    I am actually starting to lean towards the idea that conspiracy theories are secretly fed into american society as a means of creating and maintaining these brainworms within society so that they can be easily transitioned into necessary tools of the state if/when required. It's like pre-loading the textures of your propaganda, it makes the real propaganda sink in much more smoothly when you need to do it. A conspiracy about conspiracy theory brainworms.

    • Owl [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Serious people in suits say that every good economic thing destroys jobs, that Iraq has WMDs, and Venezuela is going to invade your country.

      The news constantly reports that scientists have cured cancer, proven chocolate and wine are good for you, and that string theory makes sense.

      "Rationalist" refers to a collection of dweebs who believe in robot satan.

      I can completely understand how people have lost faith in rational, scientific, reason-based epistemology.

    • macabrett
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      I'm pretty sure it's known that the CIA did exactly what you describe with UFOs to provide cover for the very real crimes they do every day

    • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I am actually starting to lean towards the idea that conspiracy theories are secretly fed into american society as a means of creating and maintaining these brainworms within society so that they can be easily transitioned into necessary tools of the state if/when required. It’s like pre-loading the textures of your propaganda, it makes the real propaganda sink in much more smoothly when you need to do it. A conspiracy about conspiracy theory brainworms.

      It 100% is. The other component is muddling the waters over independent investigators uncovering actual government conspiracies against the people. The net result is you have society divided into two groups: one that uncritically swallows the US government's official narrative and another that believes in unhinged shit like how the Earth is actually hollow. So when you have an actual conspiracy like the US blowing up a pipeline, the first group can smugly say, "what are you, a conspiracy theorist?" This is how Seymour Hersh gets lumped in with people who think the Moon landing was fake.

    • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      This is kinda just natural. You can even see hints of it on the left with how many people are labeled "CIA assets".

      It's just a much simpler and more convenient explanation to ascribe bad things to a single nefarious and mysterious organization pulling the strings in the background. It's an easy to trap to fall into and one we have to consciously remind ourselves to avoid. Don't get me wrong, I know that the CIA has verifiably done insane shit, but I still see the term "CIA asset"/"CIA puppet" used concerningly often.

      It's less a conspiracy in itself as much as it is our natural brainworms that cause conspiratorial thinking.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        1 year ago

        This is kinda just natural. You can even see hints of it on the left with how many people are labeled “CIA assets”.

        You say that but here in the UK we've had so many orgs that were infiltrated with as few as 5 members when they were literally just book reading clubs then go on to have huge spy scandals about fucking cops having sex with and making kids with the people they're fucking spying on.

        Like, when they're infiltrating us when groups are that fucking small I have a really hard time not seeing potential feds everywhere.

        • TreadOnMe [none/use name]
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          For example, the reason we call Robert Evans a fed is because he literally takes money from Bellingcat who are a news outlet that is basically exclusively funded to make the claim that the U.S. government and empire is good for progressive causes. That the only realistic alternative is American ISIS (as if protestant christo-fascists would ever be able to ally themselves together enough to pull something like that off, they literally can't go three months without snitching on each other, and also forgetting that the U.S. was one of the primary funders of ISIS and was trying to pit it against Syria).

          And given the fact that they are allied with "Data for Progress" and the billionaires that funded the massive progressive-libertarian wet-fart that was Occupy, we have to make the assumption that even if the feds are not in control of those movements, they are not actually threats to capitalist order (which if you know any historical theory or praxis, of course they are not), which is why they are allowed to take root in the American zeitgeist.

          Just like how we know that the OG BLM members from 2014 are not the same people that got prime-time media interviews and then squandered the money on a mansion, because the OG members were dead from 'gang-related killings'. Even if they weren't feds (which they probably were, remember the weird armed BP larpers who then advocated for 'respecting the police'), the alternative is with allies like these, who needs feds?

          Look, I know I genuinely sound crazy sometimes, but to me it is far more insane that all of this information has been completely glossed over and memory holed and no-one ever brings it up. Not Chapo, not True-Anon, no one questions the veracity and authenticity of these movements.

          • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
            ·
            1 year ago

            because the OG members were dead from ‘gang-related killings’.

            Wheres the lie :the-pigs: :pigmask-off:

      • Hohsia [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        I mean, the CIA was created with the sole intention of stopping the spread of socialism. So if some leftists are paranoid that a fed is undercover in an org, I can’t blame them

    • Wheaties [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think people just generate these kinds of stories in the absence of any larger narrative framework. If there was a conspiracy, I think it's a step removed -- people are purposefully not given the tools and insight needed to understand the world, and this 'modern mythologizing' is a natural consequence of it.

  • space_comrade [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    What's particularly funny about UFO nuts is all of them are convinced there's this grand government conspiracy where they lied to US citizens for decades for their own power and profit but the moment you suggest applying the same logic to propaganda about US geopolitical enemies like China they call you a shill or whatever lmao.

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, the weirdest turn in my life has been watching conspiracy nuts of the 90s turn into maga types. Decades ago these people had screwy ideas about UFOs and black helicopters, but the primary idea was the feds are the enemy and America is a fiction created to protect a small group of rich people with...magic powers or alien tech or something.

      I guess that was the problem because now that I type it out I see how easily that could twist into antisemitism or Qanon or woke mobs. The conspiracy people never figured out who the enemy was, it was just "them."

      And they think there used to be a normal America that's been subverted at some point.

  • Abraxiel
    ·
    1 year ago

    Before aliens; chop wood and carry water. After aliens; chop wood and carry water.

    sound advice

  • windowlicker [she/her]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    My biggest struggle is my lack of motivation to continue playing Star Citizen. I spent like $300 on that game, and if all this shit is true, I think i have to focus on commendeering real alien spaceships.

    :data-laughing: :farquaad-point: these people are beyond parody

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      The replies, oh the replies.

      IDC what role you give me, I'll join your crew! :D

      I'm down, but we're gonna need an alien best friend to show us around our new home

      Maybe ChatGPT 8 will be ready by then and able! :3

      BAZINGA! :soypoint-1:

    • CascadeOfLight [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      if all this shit is true, I think i have to focus on commendeering real alien spaceships

      "If aliens are real, I must jack their ride"

      Based...? :posadist-nuke:

  • Bjork_shhh [none/use name]
    ·
    1 year ago

    this is exactly what the CIA wants

    why do they invest so heavily these dogshit new age fascist slave cults like Falun Gong/Shen Yun and the Dalai Lama? Its precisely because they offer idealist false consciousness instead of historical materialist objective science which ends up critiquing capitalism

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I know that, at the end of the day, everything comes back to means of social control for economic benefit.

      But I don't think these dorks are really seeing that far ahead. They think they've got evidence of aliens. And in a country where they're totally alienated from their peers, everything they see and hear is filtered through digital media manipulation, and we're running into a Clark's Law of advanced technology that people are too uneducated to understand fully... how can we even argue otherwise?

      How is Aliens Are Real! any more or less credible than Iraq Has WMDs or Uighur Genocide? Its all just in the ether as news headlines that we consume from 3rd parties.

      Even just having a materialist conversation is hard because how do you have a discussion about material history when so much of that discussion is also dictated by what we read in books, watch on TV, and listen to on the radio? How the fuck do you talk about Lenin or Kissinger when these people are ultimately just historical figures that exist as footprints in a record outside our control?

  • MerryChristmas [any]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I don't mean to criticize you for posting this because it's absolutely worth examining, but I feel like using c/dunktank to explore this topic is almost a form of punching down. It's nothing to do with the content of your post - it's just that this guy is clearly suffering from some sort of mental health episode and reaching out for support.

    Like I said, it's a good topic. I just don't think we should frame it as a dunk.

      • YoungBelden [any]
        ·
        1 year ago

        that map means less than nothing without examining how the data was collected. reported to whom? who collected the data? were efforts made to combine databases from all the different countries? do all countries even have databases that a large number of people both know about and can report to? did the data collector translate reports in other languages?

        like, I doubt someone in China or Zimbabwe is gonna report (in English) to a US website if they see something strange in the sky.

        idc one way or the other about the topic but we gotta be more critical when encountering data presented like this

      • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        I shared some 4chan post the other day about a quote unquote leaker.

        essentially, his main point was that the supposed aliens act in a zoo keeper type way, seem to be particularly interested in war and nuclear weapons especially, and seem to observe more in areas of radiation, including non western countries' nuclear plants.

        From that frame, it makes sense most of the sightings are over the psycho-sphere of the US and associated military bases where nukes may be on standby.

        I'm not necessarily convinced either way on "aliens in da ocean", but man, is it bad I sorta want it to be true?

        Give me a replacement god that will save us from nuclear annihilation pls.

        • iridaniotter [she/her]
          ·
          1 year ago

          It's fine to want to believe. Just don't succumb to it like the people on the subreddit.

        • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          I'd have to know a lot more about this idea before being down with it. Zoo keeper aliens would have technology beyond our understanding, so why would they appear in these giant crafts? If they wanted to observe us I'd reckon they have swarms of microscopic drone cameras everywhere, or they're some kind of hive mind.

          Are they just glitches or what? I'd think any alien so advanced they can just watch us, without detection, simply wouldn't ever get observed by us. Or we wouldn't even be able to figure out what we're seeing.

          • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            https://imgur.com/a/NXjWQaN

            This was the 4chan thread in reference. The main idea is they do have technology just beyond our understanding, a mothership that creates and destroys both drones and "manned" craft as needed, and some kind of engine with a rare element that they're protective over.

            the 4chan op believes it to be some kind of military operation. Talks about weapon tech that would allow them to vaporize us all whenever and they opt not to.

            Describes abductions as basically taking a pulse on population health, and mentions they're more common in more unhealthy areas. Also describes mining operations for materials they can gather on earth.

            Overall interesting theory. I know folks who have reasonable claims of seeing things in the sky that can't be described by just light tricks. Some of these things coincide with what OP talked about, but he also could just be writing elaborate fiction using publicly available observations to make it sound more believable.

            I do find the idea a bit exciting. Not at all proof or conclusive though.

            • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Nah, that 4chan thread sucked. The OP claims that out of some super secret team, he was the only one in his twenties, meaning if the super secret team wants to find out who's leaked the info, they would already know who leaked it since it would be the only person on the team who's less than 30 years old. "Uh, I'm dying from cancer, so that's why I'm leaking the info because I have nothing to lose" isn't very convincing. OP could, of course, be lying about his age, but there's no point to do so except to be slightly more relatable to 4channers. What's far more likely is OP is a twenty something year old making shit up and trying to lampshade why a twenty something year old would be hanging out with people in their fifties.

      • iridaniotter [she/her]
        ·
        1 year ago

        They damn near only appear in countries with US air force bases.

        Well duh. Aliens are comrades and they need to assess their enemy. :posadas:

    • macabrett
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, that's fair. I probably should have posted it somewhere else. the_dunk_tank just feels like the "link to other social media comm" and I did it without thinking. Mostly wanted to discuss how people can be easily convinced of very extreme things.

  • john_browns_beard [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    There is a non-insignificant number of outspoken people on social media who believe that bugs flying in front of security cameras are either orbs (from ghosts) or fairies.

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      My mind is still broken by that one statistic I saw one time (don't remember where) that said more Americans regularly talk with ghosts than with a trans person

      • YoungBelden [any]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Ghosts Georg, who lives in cave & talks to over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

      • Bjork_shhh [none/use name]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Americans regularly talk with ghosts than with a trans person

        as the recent Horror Vanguard ep about Poltergay (gay pride is French people chanting "le gendarme! le gendarme!" to sexually objectify cops) said, queerness is strongly related to hauntology, folks the AIDS genocide/etc is making the fricking spectres LGBT!!!

      • disgruntled_worker [none/use name]
        ·
        1 year ago

        did some googlin'

        https://www.huffpost.com/entry/more-americans-claim-to-have-seen-a-ghost-than-have-met-a-trans-person_n_5677fee5e4b014efe0d5ed62

        The statistic comes from comparing a 2009 Pew Research Center survey on supernatural experiences, which found that 18 percent of Americans claim to have seen a ghost, and a 2015 GLAAD study on transgender visibility that found only 16 percent of Americans say they know someone who identifies as trans.

        • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          Oh, it's from 2009? Maybe it's different now, but that's still wild to me 18% of people have seen ghosts.

  • Wheaties [she/her]
    ·
    1 year ago

    advanced world changing tech has been hidden from us, new physics exist

    very telling that there is no name or paper for this 'new physics', it's just new

  • Parzivus [any]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I was gonna say they're probably 13 or something but they mention their wife lol

  • SweaterWeather [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    The r/UFOS subreddit is rookie stuff. You gotta go to r/UFOB for the real unhinged shit lol.

  • kristina [she/her]
    ·
    1 year ago

    chinese just have such good engineering that everyone thinks its aliens lol

    or its a psyop to catch loose lips

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      The orb video I saw was clearly a regular ass fighter aircraft that was hard to make out on a tiny black and white monitor. It made a regular ass left turn and the camera couldn't track it because the camera in question was designed to track relatively slow moving ground vehicles, not fighter aircraft.

      • kristina [she/her]
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I mean yeah. Plenty of stuff can be easily explained as someone being inebriated in some capacity or some weird maneuvers by an aircraft or drone

        As for the government 'spacecraft' it's likely just some very strange prototypes foreign militaries made at some point, stuff that bounces radar off of it can look pretty weird

    • macabrett
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      I sure saw it on the front page of reddit

  • Omegamint [comrade/them, doe/deer]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Man I want UFOs to be real, everyone here is such a humbug 😭

    The super woo stuff is really irksome though. Trying to read into the UFO community is like reading into the spiritual newage stuff. Its its own religion at this point.

    You'll all see! When the space twinks come down and enforce gay space communism I'll be the one laughing!

  • Russian_Bot_6969 [none/use name]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Vegas alien is very likely disinfo campaign.

    David Grusch is the more interesting story. Either other worldly intelligence has visited earth, or their is a new style massive psyop project being launched on the American people.

    Either way, shit is more interesting.